New Northwest Power And Conservation Council Members For Oregon, Montana

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Doug Grob to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, while changes are also coming to Oregon representation.

Grob, a Kalispell resident, has been on the Flathead Electric Cooperative Board since 2002. Because of his appointment to the Council, he will no longer be a member of the FEC Board.

In addition to serving as an FEC trustee, Grob has served on the board of the Montana Electric Cooperative Association and as past president of the Western Montana Electric Generating and Transmission Cooperative. Regionally, he has served on the board of Northwest Requirements Utilities and as alternate on the Public Power Council Executive Committee.

Oregon member Ted Ferrioli will be replaced by Charles “Chuck” Sams of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation on April 1.

“My three-year term of appointment to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council concluded January 16, 2021 and I have been advised by Governor Brown that her nomination for a new Oregon Member will proceed immediately. My final day of service will be March 31, 2021,” said Ferrioli.

“I thank Governor Brown for the opportunity to serve and will cherish memories of my time on the Council.

“I will miss NWPCC council members and staff who have consistently demonstrated warm collegiality and a level of cooperation that is truly inspiring. I wish them well as they tackle further revisions to the Power and Conservation Plan that guides fish & wildlife recovery efforts and operations of the Columbia River Hydroelectric System, ” Ferrioli said.

Sams was hired as Deputy Executive Director for the CTUIR in July, 2020.  Previously he served for seven years as the CTUIR Communications Director,

Last month, the Council elected Richard Devlin, an Oregon member, Chair and Bo Downen, a Montana member, vice chair for 2021. Devlin and Downen served in the same roles in 2020.

Devlin was appointed to the Council in 2018 by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Devlin served 31 years as an elected official in Oregon, first at the local and regional level, and later in the Oregon House of Representatives and the Oregon Senate. From 2007 to 2010 he was the Majority Leader of the Senate. He then was appointed Co-Chair of Ways and Means, a position he held until his appointment to the Council in January 2018. He graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in administration of justice, and Pepperdine University with a Master of Arts in management. His occupational background is in adult and juvenile corrections, and civil and criminal investigations, and he served in the United States Marine Corps.

Downen was appointed to the Council by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in 2019. Before his appointment to the Council, Downen was the director of environmental and regional affairs at the Public Power Council, a regional association of consumer-owned electric utilities. Downen joined the Public Power Council as a policy analyst in 2006, focusing on the Council’s fish and wildlife program, energy efficiency policy, and regional power planning. He graduated from Georgetown University and the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Chair Devlin announced the following committee chairs: Patrick Oshie, Washington member, Chair of the Power Planning Committee; Jeffery Allen, Idaho, Chair of the Fish and Wildlife Committee.

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